British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have hit out at Birmingham Airport saying they believe it will never provide an alternative to London and the south east.

Two of the country’s leading airlines hit out at Birmingham’s call for government intervention to encourage airlines to make better use of airports in the north and Midlands.

They claimed regional airports such as Birmingham could not provide an alternative to expanding capacity in the south east.

Ministers deciding whether to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport have set up an inquiry chaired by economist Sir Howard Davies, which is due to publish its initial findings next year.

Birmingham Airport has launched a campaign to convince ministers that it can provide a alternative to expanding Heathrow without the need for a new runway.

It says it could double passenger numbers from nine million today to 18 million without requiring any new infrastructure, and by extending its existing runway it will be able to serve 27 million people.

Birmingham also wants Ministers to introduce a regional air passenger duty so that passengers pay higher taxes to fly from Heathrow, to encourage airlines to offer services from regional airports.

But its arguments came under fire in submissions from BA and Virgin to the Commons Transport Select Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the Government’s aviation strategy.

Virgin said: “Airlines respond to passenger demand and operate services accordingly. Heathrow is operating at full capacity and Gatwick is full at peak times because passengers want to fly from those airports.

“Stansted, Birmingham and other airports with excess capacity can attract more passengers and airlines by reducing their charges, improving their passenger experience and marketing their services.

“We need more capacity at airports people want to use.”

British Airways said: “British Airways does not believe that regional airports can ever be an alternative to provision of effective hub airport capacity serving London and the South East.”

John Morris, Birmingham Airport’s public affairs director, said: “BA and Virgin Atlantic are putting the needs of shareholders ahead of the needs of passengers.

“The M42 and M6 corridors, in the manufacturing heartland of the UK, should be experiencing unprecedented success. Instead, long treks to the South East act as barriers to trade – at a time the Government wants to rebalance the economy towards manufacturing.

“Government must do what is right for Britain and not just my own industry. It should unconditionally allow foreign airlines to start new routes at airports with spare capacity.”